GroovyMAME/UME for dummies

[cools]

Updated! The 31k section is now precise - I seem to be in a minority regarding running a trisync in high res with fake scanlines, and the old instructions wouldn't provide a really good set of resolutions, nor would they be centred properly.

[Andypc]

I am currently running two versions of Mame in my Vertical Egret 3. I have a 64bit version of Cabmame 0.141 which includes the sound sync patch and no nag etc. This fixes sound issues in loads of old games, but I thought the sound sync was broken sometime around 0.143. I also run a 64bit version of Mame 0.153 with just the no nag / hi score patch. This is great for newer games that don't need sound sync. Never noticed any sound issues with the SH3 Cave games. My PC has an E8600 processor.
I am running games at 31khz and have tried the scanline.png, but actually prefer the look without as I find the dot pitch on the E3 actually give a nice picture. If I use my Sanwa PFX at 31khz I would have to use the scanline.png. The version I use depends whether the game benefits from the sound sync patch. Would I get any benefit from using GroovyMame. Are the refresh patch and crt drivers going to provided any benefits if just running at 31khz? I had asked on other forums about the possibility of being able to enable/disable sound sync in individual game .ini files as I have always felt it fixed sound in some games and broke others. If I was going to do another set up on a 15Khz monitor I would absolutely give this a go.

[cools]

If you're happy with what you have then stick with it. Setting up CRT_Emudriver and GroovyMAME takes no more than five minutes and is the least complex part of doing a cab install.

It's also working fine with Windows 7 now, albeit the drivers aren't final so I'm not writing up anything for that yet.

For me the sound sync was never an issue, but the refresh rate being wrong stood out like a sore thumb with every other version - microstutters in the video or travelling vsync tear lines.

Even if I wasn't using GM I'd still be using CRT_Emudriver as there are no other options worth considering with Windows and a CRT.

[joeblade]

It's also working fine with Windows 7 now, albeit the drivers aren't final so I'm not writing up anything for that yet.

That's good to hear as I've just been offered a cheap hp8500 elite sff i5 with win7 pro 64 which I may upgrade to an i7 depending on performance...

Just got to grab another hd4350 now!

[joeblade]

Well just wanted to reaffirm what cools has done with GM and Win7.

My specs:
HP Compaq Elite 8300
Intel® Core™ i5-3570 with Intel HD Graphics 2500 (3.4 GHz, 6 MB cache, 4 cores)
4gb DDR3 PC3-12800 1600mhz ram (possibly 2 modules, need to check)
500gb SATA HD
XFX Radeon 4350 1gb (dvi and hdmi out so using dvi with adapter)
Windows7 Pro64

Basically it's very similar to following cools original guide but you will need to adhere to calamity's rules on installing the beta drivers in terms of "boot sequence" using specific monitors or you can run into some problems with the resolutions not sticking.

Also there is a small caveat with VM Maker (luckily cools discovered this too!) and their is a solution for this on the GM forum.
Im sure at some point the public version of this will be released but I wanted to try the beta and actually it didn't turn into a complete nightmare.
If you already have a GM setup in place and it's going onto the same display as previous you can copy over the mame folder but obviously you will need to reinstall the beta drivers and follow the directions.

I also copied over attractmame without any issues and after I had the resolution issue nailed along with the VM Maker problem it all fell into place and is running smoothly.

Now im running cave game with no stuttering and titles like rival schools now run sweet, however radiant silvergun still running like a bit of a dog....not quite sure why as the other ST-V titles like soukyugurentai seem ok.

Im sure at some point cools will do an excellent guide for win7 but in the meantime I just thought I'd share my progress fellas!

[uberpixel]

Awesome work Cools! Been following this thread for some time now and have managed to build up an old Dell Optiplex 755 rig into my Egret II using a JPAC and an ATI fanless card. Planning to do the same with the Astro City but vert it in the process. Will upgrade to an i5 at some point (and Win7) but will definitely keep an eye on joeblade's progress.

[cools]

The way things are going at the moment it'll be Linux rather than Windows in the future. With the added bonus of having an installer and things working well on nvidia as well as Intel and newer ati cards.

[emphatic]

The way things are going at the moment it'll be Linux rather than Windows in the future. With the added bonus of having an installer and things working well on nvidia as well as Intel and newer ati cards.

Is this really happening? If so, then !

[Ex_Mosquito]

My CRT_Emudrivers just went a bit funny resulting in Groovy Mame not working and the windows XP screen a little garbled and chopped in half... this did happen about a year ago and I just reinstalled the custom drivers. What's the name of the ATI program to totally remove the graphics drivers? Ccleaner or something? I can't quite remember.

Cheers.

[cools]

I just install them over the top, I've swapped between different Catalyst without any issue

[Ex_Mosquito]

Thanks for the reply.

Really? I think I tried that that before but it didn't work. The drivers are pretty corrupt mind. The top quarter of the screen is at an angle, and the left side of the screen is on the right and righ side on the left.. with a black bar in the front.

When I stripped the drivers and reinstalled the Calamity ones it worked. Strange.

[pubjoe]

It sounds like it's just switched to a high resolution for some reason, and the sync protection's kicked in. Right click the desktop, choose properties > screen settings > advanced > list all modes > 640x480 at 60hz

---

If you do reinstall the drivers, you can remove the old by going to control panel > add/remove programs, and then also go to Device manager and uninstall driver.

I also couldn't install new calamity drivers without wiping the old ones first.

[Ex_Mosquito]

Hmm that makes sense. It's REALLY hard to see what's going on but I'll give that a try first when I get home.

[pubjoe]

I set up my mame computer using that view on a 15k CRT.

If it's too difficult to see, you could always boot in VGA mode (press F8 after the bios boot screen). You'll still get the double image but it should be lower resolution and therefore clearer. Though I'm not sure if you can change Window's normal resolution from VGA mode without messing with regedit.

I have a couple of bat files on my desktop I can use to quickly change resolutions blindly. I can't access them right now, but they're easy to make and quite handy to have.

[Ex_Mosquito]

Nah didn't work. It appears to be in 640x480 60htz but I'm getting this.

[pubjoe]

**** to it, just reinstall the drivers then.

[Ex_Mosquito]

Woot! All working again! I think GGPO buggered it up somehow. I tried to reinstall the drivers but I got an error, I'm not sure what kind of error because I couldn't read it :/ But I uninstalled the drivers with cat-uninstaller and then reinstalled the CRT_Emudrivers and it worked.

I can't believe I nearly cried. Nah I never...

[trev1976]

I can't believe I nearly cried. Nah I never...

Bet ya did

[Ex_Mosquito]

[cools]

Updated due to out of date links.